In the merchandising machine art, the machine cabinet is provided with a door which usually covers the entire open front of the cabinet. Many merchandising machines of the prior art are provided with shelves each of which carries a plurality of merchandise delivery units. Each shelf is mounted in the cabinet for movement between a housed position and a position out of the cabinet at which the units thereof are accessible for loading. Owing to the leading opration described hereinabove, the door of the merchandise machine must be capable of movement to a fully open position to permit the shelves to be moved to loading position. Not only are merchandising machine doors heavy because they are relatively large, but also in many instances they carry mechansims such as minor item dispensing units which add to the weight of the door.
In view of the construction and operation of merchandising machines described hereinabove, it will be appreciated that any movement of the door from its fully open position to its closed position during servicing or loading may result in injury to the serviceman or damage to a tray being loaded or both. Even if neither injury nor damage can result, the consequent annoyance and inconvenience of such a movement of the door renders servicing more difficult. It will be appreciated that a door may inherently have a tendency to move in the manner described. Alternatively, such a movement might be produced accidentally by an individual in the vicinity of the machine.
From the discussion hereinabove, the desirability of maintaining the door in an open position away from the cabinet when loading or servicing merchandising machines will readily be appreciated. It is further desirable that such a means operate automatically and be easily releasable from a locked position.